Cold air holds less moisture and wind strips what's left, so training outdoors in winter dries skin far faster than the same session in summer. UVA is still around too, at roughly 9% of summer levels in the UK according to Professor Antony Young, LifeJacket's medical advisor: lower, but not nothing. We asked Professor Christian Aldridge, LifeJacket's consultant dermatologist, what actually helps when you're exercising outside in the cold.
If you've been out a fair bit recently, you'll have spotted the cooler temperatures. The willpower to head out in this weather is worth having, but on its own it won't do much to keep your skin in good condition. A simple skin protection routine fills that gap: one step before you leave the house, one when you get home.
What are the problems for your skin when exercising outside in winter?
"Winter brings drops in temperature and humidity," says Professor Aldridge. "Those two main elements cause an increased drying of the skin. When the air is very dry, water will leave your skin and then your skin will start to dry."
"If left and not moisturised, your skin starts to crack, certainly at the peripheries of the body, so the hands and face, tips of the nose and fingers. Then if not treated, it can go on to form a winter dermatitis, which is irritating, red, itchy changes on the surface of the skin. Both the cold weather and the low humidity allow these features to develop."
Wind makes it worse, for ordinary reasons. Wind and cold dry skin out, and on a long run or ride the face and hands take the brunt of it. The NHS advice on dry skin is the same whatever caused it: moisturise regularly, and avoid the things that strip it.
I get small, itchy swellings on my skin from the cold. What are they?
"These are called chilblains and they occur as a reaction to cold temperatures. It usually affects the toes and fingertips, and is to do with the fact that the blood vessels there are quite small and vulnerable to temperature changes."
"With warm temperatures our faces and skin flush, go red, where the blood vessels open up. Conversely, when it's cold, they will clamp down, so we have very white fingers and toes. If it's an extreme case, you can cause a spasm on the blood vessel which interrupts the blood supply to the surface of the skin, hence you get redness and sometimes scaling, crusting, soreness and pain in those digits which are relieved by rewarming. Some people are more prone to that: it can run genetically that you have increased susceptibility."
If that sounds like your toes after a January run, the NHS guidance on chilblains covers what to do and when to see a GP. The short version is warm up slowly, not on the radiator.
Is it necessary to moisturise after exercising outdoors in winter?
"Absolutely. When we get home it's usually nice and cosy, with the central heating on, which again is the enemy of the skin. That evaporates any remaining moisture out of your skin. Patients with eczema in general get worse in the winter because of the drying effects of central heating."
"So have a shower, not too hot, and immediately after you dry, moisturise the skin. Definitely moisturise the bits that have been out and exposed because that improves the suppleness of the skin and allows it to recover."
The "not too hot" matters more than it sounds. Hot water damages the barrier more than lukewarm: hot-water exposure more than doubled water loss through the skin, so keep the post-run shower warm and short, five to ten minutes. Then the moisturiser goes on while the skin is still slightly damp. Twice-daily moisturising measurably improves dry skin within four to eight weeks, which is roughly the gap between the clocks going back and the Christmas walk.
Do you need to protect your skin from UV light during the winter?
"I think people understand protection from ultraviolet light during the summer, and then during the winter you have more of a measured approach to it. So someone shopping on a rainy December day in a shopping mall doesn't need sunscreen on their face. But the runner who's out in all weathers running January to December really could do with additional protection, mainly in the form of a moisturiser with added protection, rather than a high-factor sunscreen on its own."
"The latter doesn't make much sense in the winter unless you are in an Alpine resort or you're skiing where the altitude will increase the UV potency and the white snow reflects UV light even more. Those individuals should use a high-factor sunscreen because your chances of burning are much higher, particularly your face."
The numbers back him up. Snow reflects up to 80% of UV, and UV rises by around 10% for every 1,000 m of altitude, which is why a ski trip is a different conversation from a wet Tuesday in Surrey. For the UK, the trigger is the UV index, not the temperature: the Met Office UV index forecast shows when it reaches 3, the point protection is advised, and in a UK winter it rarely does.
"So apart from the high-altitude settings, if you're just running in the winter, then I think something like a daily moisturiser that also has an SPF of 30 is probably ideal for those all-weather runners. The same would apply to sailors and golfers, the people who have chronic exposure. A moisturiser plus an SPF all-in-one also mitigates against UV-related skin ageing. A lot of ageing effects come with the weathering of the skin."
"It's much more of a tailored approach with winter sun protection. Experts really need to get the message right, otherwise people think we've lost the plot! Telling somebody to put sunscreen on in January when it's snowing outside or it's freezing and grey, it dilutes the message. There are some categories and sections of the public who do spend a lot of time outside, who have that chronic exposure who probably benefit from sunscreen, like if you're an all-weather runner."
"It adds up, it's about chronic exposure. So it's not just that you started doing it this year. Years go by and you can accumulate those exposures. You should be using a moisturiser with SPF if you're out throughout the year, and then moisturising when you come home."
That's our position too. We don't argue that a UK winter is dangerous, because it isn't. We argue that a habit is easier to keep than a judgement: the person who puts it on every morning is wearing it on the days that matter, without having to read a forecast first.
What does the morning-and-night routine look like?
Out in the dark, home in the dark, two steps. Both go on the bits that were out: face, neck, ears, the backs of your hands.
| When | What | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Morning, before you go | our SPF 30 Daily Protection Moisturiser | Moisturiser and broad-spectrum SPF 30 in one step. Fragrance-free, dries in seconds, so it's on before you've found your other glove. Covers the all-year UVA Professor Aldridge describes and hydrates against the wind at the same time. |
| Evening, after the shower | our Daily Repair Moisturiser | Goes on straight after you dry off, on the skin that was exposed. Glycerin to draw water in, an occlusive layer to slow it leaving. Supports barrier recovery while you sleep, which is when the heating is doing its worst. |
The two together are the Moisturiser Set. If the cracking has already started on your fingertips, that's a job for the Heavy Duty Hand Bar before bed rather than a face moisturiser rubbed into your knuckles.
The hardest part is remembering, not the product itself. Forgetting, not disbelief, is the main reason people don't use sunscreen, and the fix is dull: keep the morning one next to your toothbrush and the evening one next to the towel.
Quick answers
Do I need sunscreen for a winter run in the UK?
Not a high-factor one, unless you're on snow or at altitude. UK winter UV is much lower but never zero, and if you're out in all weathers it accumulates year on year. A daily moisturiser with SPF 30 covers that without you having to think about it. Save the SPF 50+ for the ski trip.
Should I moisturise before or after a cold-weather workout?
Both, and they're different products. Before you go, a moisturiser with SPF 30 hydrates against the wind and handles the UVA. After you're back, a warm (not hot) shower, then a repair moisturiser on the exposed skin straight after you dry. The second step is the one most people skip, and it's the one that stops the cracking.
Why do my hands and lips go first in winter?
They're the peripheries Professor Aldridge mentions: thin skin, small blood vessels, and out in the wind. Lips have no oil glands and lose water almost three times faster than your cheek, and licking them makes it worse. Hands get washed a dozen times a day on top of the cold. Moisturise both before bed, every night.
Now you know. Get out there, and put something on when you get back.
